Grenade among graveyard weapons find

Army Technical Officers attended the scene at Laurel Hill Road after the alarm was raised on Tuesday afternoon, when a digger unearthed a suspicious object.While St John's Catholic Church was cordoned off overnight into Wednesday morning, no homes had to be evacuated and no road closures were put in place.The controlled explosion was carried out on Tuesday night on the grenade - which police say is believed to have been an "old style" type device.Forensic officers have also removed two handguns and a quantity of ammunition for testing.The items are believed to have been in the graveyard for "a considerable period of time".The security alert has since ended and the cordon was lifted at about 8am on Wednesday.SDLP Councillor Stephanie Quigley said: "It is terrible to think that these items were buried in the grave yard and I know that this alert will have caused distress to local people who may have family and friends buried in the cemetery. "This is sacred ground and it is awful to think that anyone would have had such lack of respect and regard for the deceased that they would bury such items in a grave," she added."I have been in touch with the security forces today regarding the alert and I am happy that it has passed off with minimum disruption to local people as no homes were evacuated."